Last night I thought it would be fun to lay out my entire Warhammer 40,0000 Salamanders army (at least, all of it that’s painted). I did a quick tot-up and it turns out that I have over 4,000 points worth which is a lot more than I would have guessed!

Another nice surprise is how consistent the colour scheme is between the first model and the last, despite there being a six-year gap between them. My painting skills have definitely improved in that time but the old and new models both work perfectly well next to each other on the table.

My love affair with all things Primaris continues! Just like the Hellblasters and the Astraeus, the Redemptor Dreadnought is both an awesome model and also really easy and fun to paint: all the green parts were painted separately from the dreadnought’s superstructure, so the whole process was relatively quick and easy (albeit spread out over several months since I no longer have a permanent hobby space).

The flames on the armour plates were painted using Duncan‘s technique for Salamanders flame heraldry, and I am very happy with how it’s turned out! I may be going back to some of my older models and adding it to them (especially the shoulder pads on my tactical and assault marines).

The right arm weapon is magnetised so I can swap the plasma incinerator (which is the obvious choice when fielding Vulkan He’stan, since you get a re-roll to avoid the mortal wound on a roll of 1 when supercharging) with the gatling cannon, if appropriate.

Xavier was a Chaplain in the Salamanders Chapter of Space Marines. He is regarded as the greatest Chaplain the Salamanders have ever known.

A proud upholder of the Salamander’s Promethean Cult, Xavier is said to have epitomised the Chapter’s ideals more completely than any other Marine in their history. Dedicated to encouraging his fellows in feats of endurance and fortitude, it is said that when Xavier led them, the Salamanders never fell back before an enemy. As a sign of this dedication, he was entrusted with the keeping of “Vulkan’s Sigil”, a relic believed to have been carried by the Primarch Vulkan. He is also famed for having slain a particularly ancient and monstrous salamander with his bare hands.

Games Workshop re-released this model last year through their “Made To Order” service, and since it’s the only other Salamanders-specific model that GW ever made (apart from Vulkan He’stan), obviously I had to pick it up.

I am not normally a fan of grav-tanks, and when I saw the Astraeus Super-Heavy Tank, I wasn’t immediately taken by it. But over time I’ve come to really love the design so I decided that I wanted one for my Salamanders army, and I treated myself to one for Christmas.

Compared to the other Forge World models I’ve built and painted, this one was a breeze to assemble and needed very little work to get it ready for painting. The only pain point is the huge number of grav skids that you have to paint separately and then glue on.

I am quite pleased to have finally (after 9 months) completed this model, as it’s been a complete pain in the arse. The cast was fairly poor (bad enough that I could probably have got a replacement if I’d wanted) and I struggled with the paint job, thanks to my bad habit of assembling the model too much before painting (specifically, the exhaust pipes on the side) which meant that I had to mask off and respray a few areas to cover up the places where I’d got paint where it should not have been.

I magnetised all the weapons, so I can swap the Flamestorm Cannon for a Magna-Melta, and maybe also change the sponsons if I pick up some alternatives at a bits site or elswhere. I’ve also made some plastic doors that fit into the sponson and turret sockets, so I could even use it as a Rhino or Razorback if I wanted.

Kavan Bor’seth was Chapter Master of the Salamanders during the 36th Millenium. After a distinguished career as a Sergeant in the 3rd company, he was elevated to the ranks of the Firedrakes, ultimately rising to lead the First Company and assume the mantle of Regent of Nocturne. He was presumed killed after many years of service, when his strike cruiser Sentinel of Hesiod was lost in the Warp en route to the Diadin sector.

Bor’seth wore a legendary suit of Artificer armour dating back to the Great Crusade. The suit was the subject of many legends: some say that it was wrought by Vulkan himself for one of his favoured commanders, others say that it was claimed as a trophy from the decapitated corpse of a traitor legionary during the Scouring. Alas, due to the loss of the Sentinel, this relic of the chapter is now lost forever, taking its secrets with it. The suit’s backpack includes an integrated auspex and teleport homer – technology once common during the Great Crusade but since lost to the Imperium.

Bor’seth’s preferred armament was a finely-wrought Thunder Hammer (with a similar pedigree to the armour he was clad in) and a regulation combi-melta, a weapon he grew fond of during his time in the Sternguard squads of the Firedrakes.

As soon as I saw it, I realised the conversion possibilities of Armillus Dynat (from the the Horus Heresy Character Series) and decided that I wanted to give it a go. The scale-pattern of the Heresy-era Alpha Legion works just as well as drake-scale in my opinion. And given how distinctive (and expensive) the model was, he couldn’t just be a veteran sergeant or company captain, so I decided to write a biography for him and place him far enough back in history as to avoid any conflicts with canon.

It’s kind of silly that it’s taken me more than four years to paint this model, but I’m so glad that I finally did! Soon after I bought it, I primed it using Army Painter Army Green, the same as all the other models, but I quickly realised that it was a mistake and that I should have primed it black instead; and it’s taken me this long to get round to stripping it and re-priming it using the airbrush.

Bray’arth is a great centerpiece model and counts as an HQ choice for Salamanders army. I’ve designed my Salamanders army around Vulkan He’stan in that I have a lot of meltas, but there’s no reason why I can’t take both models as long as the points limit allows.

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I’ve been a gamer and hobbyist for over thirty years: my first love is 6mm “Epic”, but I also play 28mm and 15mm and spaceship games. My personal preference is for SF but I still enjoy fantasy and historical games. This blog records my hobbyist activities.